Every year in December we cover the best and worst of metal with a focus on recorded material and live releases, but what frequently gets lost in the shuffle is an integral part of all things metal: the artwork.

While the prominence of physical media that you actually handle and admire while listening to an album has faded with the advent of digital distribution, cover artwork remains a core and iconic part of the heavy music experience across all sub-genres.

From frozen occult black metal to the most over-the-top fantasy power metal, the artwork is the first thing people are going to notice, and the artists deserve more recognition than they typically get.

Our roundup of the most memorable art last year saw jaw-dropping pieces from the likes of Marco Hassman, Par Oloffson, and the increasingly prolific Seth Siro Anton. This year will feature a markedly contrasted lineup of artists and bands as we explore drastically different styles that all express thematic ideas in amazingly divergent ways.

Some art this year was memorable for more negative reasons. Freedom Call, Devildriver, Gojira, and Metallica in particular all had less-than-stellar or head-scratching cover artwork this time around. We'll (mostly) be skipping that sort of memorability below, and instead focusing on things that looked amazing or were too bizarre to ignore.

Alkerdeel – Lede

We have to start here with Alkerdeel's “Lede” cover crafted by Luchtrat, an artist I'd never heard of before who does a variety of graphic designing online. I seriously haven't been able to stop thinking about this cover all year long from the moment I first laid bewildered eyes upon it.

Is it a joke? Is it completely serious? Is it taking square aim at the sort of people who would wonder about the difference? It's both minimalist and somehow simultaneously complex. It's a childish idea presented very simply – a demon taking aim and farting – but also seems to be so much more. Is it a comment on the pointlessness and absurdity of life? Is it meant to be lighthearted or threatening? Are we supposed to be taking something away from the stripped down color scheme and the blank spaces between the lines?

I have no idea if this was even the intention, but this artist caused something of an existential crisis for me. I have to wonder if somewhere there's a farting demon currently laughing about that fact.

Svoid just checked in with this statement about gearing up to drop a new studio album this coming April:

"Brothers and sisters, it is time to announce that Svoid is set to release our second full-length album titled 'Storming Voices of Inner Devotion' on the 18.04.2016 by Sun & Moon Records. We had the pleasure to produce the album together with Dániel Somogyvári at 1G Studios. The artwork was created again by Péter Sallai (Mortpaintgraphics) and his artistic output is a profound initiation of what we have done on the record.

"It was a long ride from our roots to get here but this sinister path shines so bright. The new album consists of eleven tracks and thousand waves of Doom which reflect our aim of today with strong understanding.

"This time we also had the opportunity to dive deep within our musical abyss which has thousand forms, extending the boundaries with a response of ages that we create order from. 'Storming Voices of Inner Devotion' is an ultimate trace of us devoted to All and Nothing, so be there to expect the unexpected." More...

Svoid has posted a new track online from the band's upcoming album "To Never Return." Check out "Queen Of Those Below" in the YouTube player after the jump. The band also comments:

"Devotees! It is time to announce that on February 1st our first full-length album will be available for order! The unholy work is completed and we are proud to open up the material for the dedicated ones. You know who you are.

"The album will be available also via Ván Records, Sun & Moon Records and Sigillvm Tenebrae Records in a few days, hail them for the true support. Until then you can address us.